Skills: Learning Fitness

Learning Fitness is critical to your success as an undergraduate student, and to future learning and working. The types of skills in this area that our modules promote include:

• Developing versatility as a learner
• Time management and meeting deadlines
• Coping with uncertainty
• Dealing with work and study stress
• Establishing and maintaining a good work-life balance
• Independent learning
• Managing disagreements and understanding different perspectives
• Being generous to yourself and building confidence in a range of settings
• Developing a real understanding of your strengths and weaknesses as a learner

Focus on … the science of learning fitness

Developing your learning fitness involves maximizing your potential to learn by paying attention to a number of different factors:

• Neurobiology – put your brain in the best position to learn
  • maintain a good sleep-wake cycle by sleeping for at least eight hours at night, and trying to do as much of your work during the daytime as possible
  • maximize the nutrients available to your brain by eating regularly and trying to include healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables
  • get plenty of exercise to encourage a healthy balance of hormones and feel-good chemicals being released in the brain – raising your heart rate regularly will make you more alert and able to concentrate
• Sociobiology – make connections with your peers to help your learning
  • share things that you are finding difficult with other learners – you’ll be surprised to see that many other people feel the same way as you
  • help others with things that you find easier, and they can help you with things that you find difficult – this type of social exchange also helps you to learn more effectively – teaching others is a great way to reinforce your own learning

Last Updated 23rd September 2025